Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1887-08-10
A PRETTY WAR STORY.

A PRETTY WAR STORY.
When the Federals captured the little
town of -, in Mississippi, they took
Judge Strong's house for the. headquar-
ters. The old judge was. mad. He de-
cided at once to 60 into exile.
He borrowed his own carriage and
horses to convey himself and family to the
river bank, where they would take skiffs.
It looked trihe like o funeral process
sion as the women, yeiled and weeping,
filed solemnly down the steps and took
their places in the waiting saEriag ges The
Judge Followed tffenHin unsf fdfilhg dignity:
They were going into exile.
Their borrowed driver; slammed the
carriage door upon them and mounted to
the box with solemn "Git up" to his
horses. Some one halted him from the In
terror of the house. The hurried step OF q
spurred boot along the big central hall, and
then, standing there with barred head be-
fore them, was the young officer upon
whose unwilling hands the odium of this
eiectment had been thrust. With qdick
military salute to the veiled women, he
turned his troubled eyes upon the judge,
sitting sternly erect upon the front seat.
He held in one hand bird cage, in the
other a basket of blooming hyacinths torn
up by the roots. He knew they hated him,
and it was hard to say what he wanted
Just then to say to them. The hot blood
mounted high up to the white temples that
were in such sharp contrast to his sun
burned cheeks. He stammered out his
errand presently, awkwardly enough, VI
brought these thinking the ladies might
want to set them out somewhere else," in
dicating the hayacinths "and this"-the
bird cage-"supposing it had been forgot
ten."
"Present them to the general in COM
mand with my respect" said the JUDGES
wife in her most patriotic tones, land tell
him, if there is anything more we can sur,
render for his comfort, we hope he will
not be too modest to indicate it."
"Oh, mamma, that is cruel" A girls
veil was thrown back and pair Of little
hands were held out for the hyacinths.
"It was good of you to think Of this. The
bird would be in our way. It's mine. L
give it to you. These will take; thank
YOU" Then they were gone, and he had
nothing but memory left, and very in
convenient piece of army baggage on
hand. But never was bird or beast better
cared for than the useless little yellow
warbler.
At the end of the war the family re-
turned. The condition in which they
found the premises was matter of more
amazement to the Strongs than it had been
to their neighbors. There was not one
sign left of the enemy's occupation but the
grassy welts on the lawn and the free
sweep of exposure to the public road,
which at first was a sore trial to the nerves
of the whole family. The Judge made it
his business at once to begin sitting the
mystery of this unfathered benefcence to
him and his. A little bird gave him the
right clue. a..
They had been settled in the old house
but a few days when two enormous tubs,
each containing thrifty rose-bush, and u
glittering gilt Chinese pagoda of birds
cage, containing a useless little yellow
warbler, were added to their effects.
These were dumped abruptly down upon
the portico with no message of any sort.
A tag was fastened to each rose bush, on
which was written: Survival OF the
fittest," The bird gave them the clue.
"Why did you do all this for me?" the
Judge asked, sitting face to face with the
new lawyer, whom he had unearthed as
his benefactor.
II don't know that did do it for you,"
the ex-adjutant said, his eyes wandering
from force of habit to where the birds cage
had swung and the rose trees had bloom
ed behind the little Office.
"For whom them 2"
"For your daughter-the one that lifted
her veil and remembered to be kind and
just to her enemy, even in the snarp hours
of her own misery. God does not make
such woman as that every day, and some
of these days, when the soreness has worn
itself out of her heart and yours, I mean to
ask her to be my wife. Not yet though,
1 bide my time"
It is safe to conclude that the soreness
was worn out of everybody's heart before
the day when that strolling photographer
sprung his camera on the old Strong house,
when the family were all grouped on the
succeed steps, for among the blurry forms
on the steps is the ex-adjutant's. He is
sitting quite close to the judges youngest
daughter, and if you look at the picture
through a magnifying glass, you can see
that her fingers are clasped in his, though
the petals of a handful of "sunset" roses
almost hide them.